Are You Willing to Share?

When Stephen Barnes set up the Hong Kong Visa

Centre, he knew that the secret to business success

lay in giving away his knowledge, not charging for it. In

a twist to the way businesses often jealously guard their

expertise, Barnes decided to share his insights with

visa applicants as often as possible, free of charge.

In doing so, he employed a pract ice commonly

known as ‘content marketing’. Companies using

content marketing typically develop and share useful

information in order to engage, help, and ultimately

sell to their customers and prospects. But actual sales

messages, if any, are kept to a minimum. By focusing

entirely on their audience’s needs, and delivering

content to support those needs, companies benefit

from improved lead generation, increased brand

recognition, and better customer engagement.

The practice is growing globally. The industry’s Content

Marketing Institute (CMI) recently found, for example,

that 61% of marketers in Australia plan to increase

their content marketing budgets in 2013. Meanwhile,

Dominic Masterton-Smith, Director, Human Communications

adoption among business marketers stands at 95% in

the UK, 91% in North America, and 98% in Australia,

according to the CMI.

Content marketing isn’t a new idea. In fact, one of the

earliest known examples was a customer magazine

published by US tractor maker John Deere. The date

was 1895. What has changed, however, is the ease

of sharing content. With low barriers to entry and the

ability to control one’s own distribution—for example,

through a website or email newsletter—companies can

reach a global audience at a very low cost.

One business, Kuno Creative, saw online sales leads

increase by more than 600% when it switched from

traditional search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques

to content marketing. In a video discussing its success,

Chad Poll i tt, the company’s Director of Inbound

Marketing, says, “Businesses are in the business of

solving people's problems… So, the content you

produce needs to centre on solving people’s problems,

because that's what people want.”

Bus i ne s s

In today’s digital world, content marketing is a practice

that has particular benefits for small and medium-sized

enterprises (SMEs) seeking a wider online audience. By

providing answers to common questions, companies

can demonst ra te the i r va lue and d i f fe rent ia te

themselves from their competitors. These SMEs are

also more likely to reach prospective customers in the

first place, as they will naturally use the same phrases

those people are using to search online.

A US company installing fibreglass swimming pools

may seem an unlikely content marketing champion.

But Marcus Sheridan, an owner of River Pools, first

explored the practice when sales dropped in the

struggling economy in 2008. His approach was simple.

He decided to use a blog to answer the questions his

customers most frequently asked, including the one

competitors dared not answer: ‘How much does a

typical pool cost?’. The approach was so successful

that visitors to River Pools’ website soared, as did the

company’s sales.

There are, however, some challenges for those new

to the practice. Many SMEs are put off because they

don't know where to start, worry about not having

enough to say, or don’t have the time or resources

to commit to a regular publishing schedule. But, by

focusing on customers’ typical concerns, even the

smallest company can produce relevant and helpful

content. A business might, for example, write about an

industry trend and its likely impact on customers, or

develop case studies showing how existing customers

have overcome their business problems using the

company’s services.

Businesses concerned about meeting a regular

publishing schedule may also benefit from an editorial

calendar that maps out content in advance. If, for

example, a business owner is speaking at an industry

conference one month, it’s easy to turn that speech

into an article the next month. Alternatively, a company

might develop one or two reports each year, from

which it can then create several shorter blog posts or

podcasts.

At the Hong Kong Visa Centre, Barnes

has built a huge online resource of

blog posts, case studies, and short

videos, al l aimed squarely at those

seeking help with visa applications.

“It’s all about answering questions and

solving problems,” he says. “It’s about

portraying your knowledge and gaining

a level of trust and goodwill from your

audience.”

“We structured our content in such a

way that customers stand a really good

chance of being able to find us online,”

he says. “If it becomes immediately

apparent that we know what we're

talking about and that there is the opportunity for them

to have all their problems addressed for free, our hope

is that when they're ready for professional assistance,

they'll come our way rather than going elsewhere.”

For SMEs in today’s digital environment keen to reach

new prospects, increase customer engagement

and, ultimately, improve sales, the lesson is clear.

Increasingly, it pays to share.

For further information, please email dominic@human-

communications.com

Britain in Hong Kong 2120